Speakers

An economist and real estate expert, Professor Christopher J. Mayer has earned widespread recognition for his scholarship and teaching. He is the Paul Milstein Professor and Director of the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate at Columbia Business School. In addition, he serves as a Visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, on the Board of Editors of Real Estate Economics and a Fellow of the Homer Hoyt Institute. Professor Mayer also works as part-time research director and member of the Board of Directors of Oak Hill REIT Management, a REIT hedge fund. Professor Mayer previously held positions at the Wharton School, the University of Michigan, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. He holds a BA in Math and Economics from the University of Rochester and a PhD in Economics from MIT.

Professor Mayer’s research explores a variety of topics in real estate, including real estate cycles, capital markets, housing, public and private real estate markets, and debt securitization. He has also written on the market for reverse mortgages, and the link between local government activities and housing values. More recently, Professor Mayer has examined economics of airline congestion. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Government of Canada, and the Real Estate Research Institute, among others. He has authored more than twenty-five scholarly articles on these subjects and is frequently quoted in the national media, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNBC, CNN, CBS TV, CBS's Sunday Morning, ABC News, ABC 20/20, Nightline and National Public Radio. Professor Mayer serves as a regular real estate commentator for CNBC.